Time's Up
by Specks
Summary: Max is found out and trapped by the sector police.... How will she deal?
1. Default Chapter

Title: Time's Up  
  
Rating: PG 13 for now  
  
Author: Specks  
  
Disclaimer: James Cameron, Fox, and all those network people that make the show possible.  
  
Synopsis: Max is trapped by the sector police.. they'd discovered what she was, how will Max deal?  
  
Pairings: M/L  
  
Spoilers: A little bit of Hello Goodbye  
  
Author's Notes #1: I'd like to thank Nina, you're the best as always. All the suggestions you gave me really worked.. Thanks!!!  
  
Feedback: Yes! I crave feedback, should I continue? Any ideas would be welcome as well. Pleas e-mail me at slete130@netzero.net  
  
  
  
Max ran. There was no where to hide, no where to turn. The sector police were after her-even now she could hear the rapid beats of their hearts, sped on by the adrenaline of the hunt.Their shouts and the splash of sewage as they ran could be heard in the distance.  
  
Yesterday, she and every other transgenic had been exposed by the media; today, the public demanded retribution. She had known long ago that her luck would eventually run out.. now it had.  
  
All of those close calls.. the times she'd been in and out of the hospital... the police station. She'd known even then that those visits would come back to haunt her. Now the police knew what she looked like, and they would stop at nothing to get her. She was the first transgenic, they'd identified, but she knew if they had her captured, she wouldn't be the last..  
  
Searching desperately for a way out, she glanced wildly about, hoping against hope that escape would be near. But all she found were more tunnels and more voices shouting at her to surrender. As she ran, their heartbeats seemed to grow louder, closer, roaring in her ears. She couldn't hear anything else, just the heartbeats. Nothing mattered except escape.  
  
She had to get away. The lives of her brothers' and sisters'..all of the people she loved depended on her. If they caught her, then they'd have live proof of normal looking transgenics.. She had to prevent them from finding out the truth.... at any cost. There was no time to think about her decision, time had run out for her...but maybe just maybe the rest of her kind would be saved. Taking a deep breath to strengthen herself, Max ran straight for the whirling blades of the ventilator. It was the only way.. at least her death would mean the life of so many others.  
  
The last leg of the run seemed to go by in slow motion, everything else was filtered out as she focused on her destination. As she ran, the images of Alex's smirk, and Original Cindy's soft smile passed through her mind, next came the images of all of her brother's and sisters, especially Zack.  
  
'I'm doing what you would Zack, I'm gonna save everyone'  
  
And then in that last moment, just before she greeted death, Logan invaded her thoughts. She remembered the way he always chuckled at even the most humorless things, the way his eyes would twinkle with laughter, or grow luminous with love and concern. Her heart ached for the man she loved, and it grieved for what she would soon lose. She could give up almost anything in the world for him; he was her world. For a moment she almost wavered, to think of losing him was unbearable. In her minds eye she could still see their last meeting. It had ended so bitterly, the pain of love ripping at them both. Maybe it was better this way...  
  
Its funny how love is a double edged blade. She wanted to stay because she loved him. Yet she had to go save him. Either way she would bleed. Yet in the end there wasn't even a question of what path she would choose. To live with the guilt of endangering Logan would far more painful than death.  
  
Seeing the blades of the ventilator draw near, Max thought about how ironically fitting her death would be. Twin blades that would rip and tear at her until she was nothing, just like love...  
  
Now there was no more time to reminisce, time had run out and it was time to die. With Logan as her last thought, Max hurled herself at the whirling blades.  
  
Ain't Love a bitch. 


	2. Echoes

Title: Echoes  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: Fox and James Cameron and all those network honchos own all.  
  
Synopsis: Alec reflects on an unexpected tragedy.  
  
Spoilers: Elements of Hello Goodbye  
  
Author's notes: Thank you to Nina. You are the best beta reader. (What we don't know can't hurt us. aka: rules lol.)  
  
Feedback: Yes yes! I'm thinking about writing Logan's reaction as well. And no.. I do not hate Logan. If you want to find out his real reaction then you have to send me feedback. Hah! Please Email me at slete130@netzero.net.  
  
Alec bustled around Max's kitchen prepared to surprise her with breakfast. She'd gone out on a limb to save him last night so it was the least he could do. Of course she'd squawk about the mess he made in the kitchen. But hey, its the thought that counts. Besides its not like the kitchen could get any more messed up then it already was when he'd arrived that morning. Whistling a tune, Alec cheerfully fried eggs and strips of bacon, purposefully leaving smears of grease on the table. He knew she was going to yell at him for being caught and acting like an idiot when she got home.. So he figured he might as well get some fun out of it by annoying her.  
  
He was setting the table when his cell rang.  
  
"Yo, Alec here what's up man?"  
  
The answer was not what he expected.  
  
'No! Not her. Not possible'  
  
It had been Logan on the phone, calling to tell him... to tell him. God even now he couldn't grasp the concept..  
  
"Alec, Max is dead"  
  
Just like that. Simple. Direct. Deafening. His cold, impersonal voice had delivered the news. As though Max's death was nothing more than a casualty in his war, a statistic. The bastard. She'd loved him and Logan didn't even have the decency to mourn her passing. Crouched in the corner of Max's kitchen, Alec buried his face in his hands as he tried to deal with the loss. He sat there for a long while, staring sightlessly through grief stricken eyes. A litany repeating over and over in his mind.  
  
'Its all my fault. It should have been me. It should have been me. 'all my fault...'  
  
If Max hadn't gone into that police station to save his ass, they would never have gotten her. She wouldn't have been a target. She wouldn't have died. It should have been him, but Max had pushed him over the fence and told him to run. And like a coward he did. It had never occurred to him that Max couldn't take care of herself. She had feline DNA, and cats always landed on their feet....  
  
A low animalistic growl escaped his throat as the pain became too much to hold in.  
  
How was it possible she was gone? She was gone..and it was all his fault.  
  
Her apartment still reeked of her scent, and echoed of her presence. Dirty dishes sat in the kitchen waiting to be washed, and the imprint of her small frame could still be found on the bed.  
  
Everything in her apartment just sat there..waiting. As though any minute now she would come back. To make the bed or scold him for doing something foolish.  
  
Funny how you don't notice the impact someone's made on your life until they're gone. Max had been there when Manticore fell apart. She'd given him something to hold on to when his very foundation was crumbling around him. She was his hero.  
  
Max had shown him the difference between living and surviving..right and wrong. She was his rock admidst the angry sea of confusion that raged within him. Her constant presence had steadied him, guided him. But now that presence was gone, and once again found himself adrift without an anchor. At the mercy of the raging sea.  
  
Walking into the living room, Alec picked up a photograph taken just recently of Max and Original Cindy. The picture seemed like a cruel reminder of what no longer was. Tracing Max's smiling face with a finger it hit him all over again. Max was dead.  
  
Max was dead. And this picture. This simple mockery of the real thing was the closest he would ever get to touching her again.  
  
A singel, precious tear fell and landed on the frame, it slid to the floor and was gone. He gazed at it a bit longer... remembering her. Then Alec took the picture and tucked it into his jacket. It held an echo of Max, and in the end that was all he really needed.  
  
Pausing at the door, Alec took one last look at Max's apartment. Then he pivoted and closed the door quietly, the only sound a soft click. His last thought echoed through the room before it was carried away by the wind. A single phrase.  
  
'It should have been me.'  
  
############  
  
FEEDBACK!!! Remember no Logan unless you tell me you want it(me with evil grin) 


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